Sydney United 58 brought back down to earth by NWS Spirit FC
NWS Spirit FC have brought Sydney United 58 back down to earth following their recent Round of 32 Australia Cup victory with a thrilling 3-2 victory to complete Round 27 of National Premier Leagues NSW Men’s competition at Christie Park on Wednesday evening.
The visitors were buoyed following their 4-2 victory over Broadmeadow Magic last Friday but were dealt a hammer blow as they suffered their twelfth loss of the 2023 NPL NSW Men’s campaign in tough circumstances thanks to a stunning second half hat-trick from an unlikely source in Jordan Gomez.
The hosts started the better of the two sides, Luiz Lobo perhaps having the best chance of the half early with a toe poke effort forcing a good save from Luke Cukar after an interchange of passes on 20 minutes.
United’s best period following soon after that, however they were up against a Spirit defence who were willing to get their body in the way of their shots. Taisei Kaneko most notably having a shot deflected wide before a couple of in swinging corners caused Christopher Marques some issues.
This followed by another chance for the visitors before the half hour, a poor turnover at the back allowing Andrea Agamemnonos to pick it up in a dangerous position who found Chris Payne ahead of him, his shot blocked before it could reach the goal.
Spirit were to have the best two chances of the first half however, the second of which coming in the 41st minute. Jared Lum released through on goal after some nice bodywork from Matthew Cahill in the build-up. His shot was denied by a good Cukar save with his right foot.
Perhaps the more fortunate of the two sides to go in level, Sydney United 58 came out an improved side at the resumption.
Spirit were still threatening though and they had another good chance to take the lead in the 49th minute. Kota Odakura picking out Musashi Kokubo with a well weighted delivery into the area from the set piece – Kokubo denied by another good Cukar save.
The hosts however paid the ultimate price for not taking their chances soon after. Hiyori Kawaguchi won the spot kick in the left side of the box which saw Chris Payne make no mistake from the spot sending the keeper the wrong way.
David Perkovic’s men finally broke down the door in the 66th minute. A Lobo cross from the right headed down by Cahill for Gomez to score with his first touch of the game for the equaliser.
Not content with the one goal, it was Perkovic’s reinforcements who were having the impact. Gomez grabbed their go ahead with just over ten minutes left. Odakura with a free kick from deep was turned home by Gomez inside the area for his brace. It must be said that the United 58 defence found it difficult to clear Spirit’s dangerous free-kicks all evening.
Despite not looking likely for much of the second half, Sydney United 58 were able to level things in the 92nd minute. Leroy Jennings with the simplest of finishes after Christopher Marques fumbled a Yianni Fragogiannis free kick. It was Jennings’ third goal for the club in 2023.
You thought that was the end right?
Not quite, it’s NWS Spirit FC we are talking about, a team that has a knack of dramatic finishes.
Jordan Gomez grabbed his hat-trick from close range, Odakura once again with the delivery into the area in the 5th minute of added time which again was not dealt with by United 58, that gave the hosts a crucial victory.
Post match, David Perkovic was in a joyous mood reflecting on the game.
“I thought we lost a point there with the late goal there at the end but we got to the other end of the park and got the winner.
“We’ve done it a couple of times now.”
“You can’t complain when you score three goals, we could have scored more still and deserved to win.”
Match Stats
NWS Spirit FC 3 (Jordan Gomez 66’ 78’ 94’)
Sydney United FC 2 (Christopher Payne 53’, Leroy Jennings 92’)
Saturday 9 August 2023
Christie Park, Macquarie Park
Referee: Stephen Lucas
Assistant Referees: Jackson Tippett & Aaron Bloch
Fourth Official: Amber Morris
NWS Spirit FC: 1. Christopher Marques, 3. Musashi Kokubo, 4. Kota Odakura, 6. Corey Kavanagh, 7. Richard Darko (15. Paul Katsetis 73’), 11. Ollie Wiggin (2. Anthony Younis 87’), 13. Simon Nicholas, 17. Matthew Cahill (16. Kyle Shaw 87’), 19. Daniel Mitwali, 20. Jared Lum (5. Jordan Gomez 65’), 21. Luiz Lobo (10. Peter Kekeris 73’).
Substitutes Not Used: 13. Jacob Madden
Yellow Cards: Mitwali 93’
Red Cards: Nil
Sydney United FC: 20. Luke Cukar, 3. Bailey Rule, 4. Adrian Vlastelica (21. Yianni Fragogiannis 65’), 5. Anthony Tomelic, 6. Christopher Payne (9. Patrick Antelmi 78’), 7. Taisei Kaneko (19. Ante Vojvodic 78’), 11. Yianni Perkatis, 12. Hiyori Kawaguchi, 13. Alessandro Lacalandra (22. Leroy Jennings 73’), 14. Andreas Agamemnonos (10. Devante Clut 46’), 17. Matthew Bilic
Substitutes Not Used: 50. Ryan Warner
Yellow Cards: Perkatis 49’, Vojvodic 94’
Red Cards: Nil
Player Ratings:
3 – Jordan Gomez (NWS)
2 – Kota Odakura (NWS)
1 – Matthew Cahill (NWS)
By Justin Smith (@smiththejustin).
